1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for sharing documents using a network and ordering and presenting a group of shared documents, which, for example, can be used as a basic technique for implementing an intranet which is an information sharing system using the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
The World Wide Web (WWW) of the Internet has shown explosive growth in recent years, in particular, as information publishing media. An intranet is utilized to employ the WWW as an information sharing tool for a closed network such as an intra-company network. With the intranet, since existing infrastructure, such as WWW servers, WWW browsers, etc., can be used without modification, network-based information sharing can be forwarded at relatively low cost.
However, beginners will have difficulties in sharing document information in the present WWW system because they must comply with the following procedure:
1. To describe the contents of a document in a language called hyper text markup language (HTML), which is one of document describing languages that specify the structure of documents with tags. PA1 2. To copy an HTML file into the computer of a WWW server. In general, the file transfer protocol (FTP) of the Internet is often used. PA1 3. To attach a uniform resource locator (URL), which is the identification (ID) of the document on the network, to correspond with the directory of the WWW server that stores the document. PA1 4. To perform the processing opposite to the above in order to revise the document. The corresponding directory is obtained on the basis of the URL, the file is copied into a local machine for revision, and the revised document is reentered. PA1 1. Documents can be shared only among persons who use the same software. PA1 2. In order to extend the range of information sharing to the Internet, it is required to install a gateway between the LAN and the Internet. PA1 1. It is an intricate procedure to write document information in the hyper text markup language in order to make the information open through the WWW. PA1 2. It is troublesome to copy a file into a shared machine in order to establish a correspondence between a directory and a uniform resource locator. PA1 3. In updating a document, it is required to establish a correspondence between a uniform resource locator and a directory and make sure that two or more persons will not revise the same document at the same time.
Another method of sharing information is to use a local area network (LAN) composed of, for example, personal computers. This is implemented mainly by software called groupware. A typical example of groupware is the Lotus "NOTES".
The conventional software of this type has the following problems:
In sharing documents using the conventional system, the following problems are encountered: